A Short Note on Wh-in-situ in Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian

doi:10.18627/jslg.39.4.202402.417

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2024 Vol.39, Issue 4 Preview Page Next Page

Research Article

A Short Note on Wh-in-situ in Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian: Barrie, Michael Jonathan Mathew¹, Arif, Marianka Azira^1*; ¹Sogang University

29 February 2024. pp. 417-430

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Abstract

The main objective of this study is to investigate the properties of wh-in-situ constructions in Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian (CJI). In contrast to Standard Indonesian and Malay, where both wh-movement and partial wh-movement are observed, CJI content questions are obligatorily wh-in-situ. Our analysis centers on a notable asymmetry between nominal wh-phrases (e.g., “who,” “what”) and adverbial wh-phrases (e.g., “why,” “how”). The former are immune to islands, while the latter are sensitive to them. We review previous analyses of related linguistic varieties, fail to account for the properties of wh-constructions in CJI. Consequently, we propose an analysis incorporating unselective binding and covert movement. We end with some tentative remarks on why wh-movement is not observed in CJI, in light of the fact that feature strength is no longer a viable option as an explanatory framework.

Keywords

colloquial grammar

unselective binding

covert movement

wh-in-situ

Indonesian

References

Aoun, J. and Li, Y.-h. A. 1993a. On Some Differences between Chinese and Japanese Wh-Elements. Linguistic Inquiry 24.2, 365-372.
Aoun, J. and Li, Y.-h. A. 1993b. Wh-Elements in Situ: Syntax or LF? Linguistic Inquiry 24.2, 199-238.
Bochnak R. and Matthewson, L. 2020. Techniques in Complex Semantic Fieldwork. Annual Review of Linguistics 6.1, 261-283. 10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011619-030452
Branan, K. G. 2018. Relationship preservation. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.
Chomsky, N. 1965. Aspects of Syntax. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. 1993. A Minimalist Program for Linguistic Theory. In K. Hale and S. J. Keyser (eds.), The View from Building 20: Essays in Linguistics in Honor of Sylvain Bromberger. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1-52.
Chomsky, N. 1995. The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. 2001. Derivation by Phase. In M. Kenstowicz (ed.), Ken Hale: A Life in Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1-52. 10.7551/mitpress/4056.003.0004
Cole, P. and Hermon, G. 1998. The Typology of Wh-Movement: Wh-Questions in Malay. Syntax 1.3, 221-258. 10.1111/1467-9612.00009
Cole, P. and Hermon, G. 2000. Partial Wh-Movement: Evidence from Malay. In U. Lutz, G. Mueller, and A. von Stechow (eds.), Wh-Scope Marking. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 85-114. 10.1075/la.37.05col
Cole, P., Hermon, G., and Tjung, Y. N. 2005. How irregular is WH in situ in Indonesian? Studies in Language 29.3, 553-581. 10.1075/sl.29.3.02col
Davies, W. D. 2003. Extreme Locality in Madurese Wh-Questions. Syntax 6.3, 237-259. 10.1111/j.1467-9612.2003.00062.x
Davies, W. D. and Kurniawan, E. 2013. Movement and locality in Sundanese wh-questions. Syntax 16.2, 111-147. 10.1111/j.1467-9612.2012.00174.x
Davis, H., Gillon, C., and Matthewson, L. 2014. How to Investigate Linguistic Diversity: Lessons from the Pacific Northwest. Language 90.4, 180-226. 10.1353/lan.2014.0076
Heim, I. 1982. The Semantics of Definite and Indefinite Noun Phrases. University of Massachusetts, Amherst dissertation.
Huang, C. T. J. 1982. Logical Relations in Chinese and the Theory of Grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.
Keine, S. 2020. Probes and Their Horizons. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 12003.001.0001 PMC7244199
Kim, J., Cole, P., Hermon, G., and Sumartini, P. M. 2019. Balinese and other wh-in situ languages. In M. Pearson (ed.), Papers from the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association 24, 31-41. Special publication 4 of Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society.
May, R. 1985. Logical Form: Its Structure and Derivation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Pesetsky, D. 1987. WH-in-situ: Movement and Unselective Binding. In E. Reuland and A. ter Meulen (eds.), The Linguistic Representation of (In)definiteness, 98-129. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Richards, N. 2016. Contiguity Theory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 10.7551/mitpress/10542.001.0001
Saddy, D. 1991. Wh-scope mechanisms in Bahasa Indonesia. In L. Cheng and H. Demirdache (eds.), More papers on wh-movement, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 15, 183-218. Cambridge, MA: Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT.
Sato, Y. and Yuliani, D. H. 2008. Wh-in-Situ in Bahasa Indonesia and Choice Function. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics 30, 272-286. 10.17161/KWPL.1808.3922
Sneddon, J. N. 2003. The Indonesian Language: Its History and Role in Modern Society. Kensington: University of New South Wales Press.
Sneddon, J. N. 2006. Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Australian National University.
Tsai, D. 1994. On Economizing the Theory of A-Bar Dependencies. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.
Watanabe, A. 1992. Subjacency and S-structure movement of wh-in-situ. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 1.3, 255-291. 10.1007/BF00130554

Information

Publisher :The Modern Linguistic Society of Korea
Publisher(Ko) :한국현대언어학회
Journal Title :The Journal of Studies in Language
Journal Title(Ko) :언어연구
Volume : 39
No :4
Pages :417-430
DOI :https://doi.org/10.18627/jslg.39.4.202402.417

[1] Aoun, J. and Li, Y.-h. A. 1993a. On Some Differences between Chinese and Japanese Wh-Elements. Linguistic Inquiry 24.2, 365-372.

[2] Aoun, J. and Li, Y.-h. A. 1993b. Wh-Elements in Situ: Syntax or LF? Linguistic Inquiry 24.2, 199-238.

[3] Bochnak R. and Matthewson, L. 2020. Techniques in Complex Semantic Fieldwork. Annual Review of Linguistics 6.1, 261-283. 10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011619-030452

[4] Branan, K. G. 2018. Relationship preservation. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.

[5] Chomsky, N. 1965. Aspects of Syntax. Cambridge: MIT Press.

[6] Chomsky, N. 1993. A Minimalist Program for Linguistic Theory. In K. Hale and S. J. Keyser (eds.), The View from Building 20: Essays in Linguistics in Honor of Sylvain Bromberger. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1-52.

[7] Chomsky, N. 1995. The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

[8] Chomsky, N. 2001. Derivation by Phase. In M. Kenstowicz (ed.), Ken Hale: A Life in Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1-52. 10.7551/mitpress/4056.003.0004

[9] Cole, P. and Hermon, G. 1998. The Typology of Wh-Movement: Wh-Questions in Malay. Syntax 1.3, 221-258. 10.1111/1467-9612.00009

[10] Cole, P. and Hermon, G. 2000. Partial Wh-Movement: Evidence from Malay. In U. Lutz, G. Mueller, and A. von Stechow (eds.), Wh-Scope Marking. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 85-114. 10.1075/la.37.05col

[11] Cole, P., Hermon, G., and Tjung, Y. N. 2005. How irregular is WH in situ in Indonesian? Studies in Language 29.3, 553-581. 10.1075/sl.29.3.02col

[12] Davies, W. D. 2003. Extreme Locality in Madurese Wh-Questions. Syntax 6.3, 237-259. 10.1111/j.1467-9612.2003.00062.x

[13] Davies, W. D. and Kurniawan, E. 2013. Movement and locality in Sundanese wh-questions. Syntax 16.2, 111-147. 10.1111/j.1467-9612.2012.00174.x

[14] Davis, H., Gillon, C., and Matthewson, L. 2014. How to Investigate Linguistic Diversity: Lessons from the Pacific Northwest. Language 90.4, 180-226. 10.1353/lan.2014.0076

[15] Heim, I. 1982. The Semantics of Definite and Indefinite Noun Phrases. University of Massachusetts, Amherst dissertation.

[16] Huang, C. T. J. 1982. Logical Relations in Chinese and the Theory of Grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.

[17] Keine, S. 2020. Probes and Their Horizons. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 12003.001.0001 PMC7244199

[18] Kim, J., Cole, P., Hermon, G., and Sumartini, P. M. 2019. Balinese and other wh-in situ languages. In M. Pearson (ed.), Papers from the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association 24, 31-41. Special publication 4 of Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society.

[19] May, R. 1985. Logical Form: Its Structure and Derivation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

[20] Pesetsky, D. 1987. WH-in-situ: Movement and Unselective Binding. In E. Reuland and A. ter Meulen (eds.), The Linguistic Representation of (In)definiteness, 98-129. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

[21] Richards, N. 2016. Contiguity Theory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 10.7551/mitpress/10542.001.0001

[22] Saddy, D. 1991. Wh-scope mechanisms in Bahasa Indonesia. In L. Cheng and H. Demirdache (eds.), More papers on wh-movement, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 15, 183-218. Cambridge, MA: Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT.

[23] Sato, Y. and Yuliani, D. H. 2008. Wh-in-Situ in Bahasa Indonesia and Choice Function. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics 30, 272-286. 10.17161/KWPL.1808.3922

[24] Sneddon, J. N. 2003. The Indonesian Language: Its History and Role in Modern Society. Kensington: University of New South Wales Press.

[25] Sneddon, J. N. 2006. Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Australian National University.

[26] Tsai, D. 1994. On Economizing the Theory of A-Bar Dependencies. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.

[27] Watanabe, A. 1992. Subjacency and S-structure movement of wh-in-situ. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 1.3, 255-291. 10.1007/BF00130554

The Journal of Studies in Language ISSN:1225-4770(Print) 2671-6151(Online) 언어연구

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